(1)

Statutory Authority. In order to achieve the purpose of Wis. Stats. ch. 236, and to provide safe and orderly subdivision layouts, the following regulations are adopted pursuant to Wis. Stats. §§ 59.97(1), 59.971(3), 144.46(2), 144.28(8) and 236.45.

(2)

Purpose. These regulations are adopted for the following purposes:

(a)

To protect and provide for the public health, safety and general welfare of the unincorporated areas of Portage County.

(b)

To guide the future growth and development of the unincorporated areas of Portage County, in accordance with adopted County development guides and land use plans.

(c)

To provide for adequate light, air, water supply and privacy, to secure safety from fire, flood and other danger and to prevent overcrowding and undue congestion.

(d)

To protect the character and the social and economic stability of all parts of the unincorporated areas of Portage County.

(e)

To protect and conserve property values and the value of buildings and improvements upon the land and to minimize land use conflicts.

(f)

To guide public and private policy and action in order to provide adequate and efficient transportation, water, sewerage, schools, parks, playgrounds, recreation and other public requirements and facilities.

(g)

To provide for the safe and efficient movement of vehicular and pedestrian traffic, to provide for the proper location and width of streets and access points and to help implement official street plans.

(h)

To establish reasonable standards of design and procedures for subdivisions and resubdivisions, in order to further the orderly layout and use of land; and to insure proper legal descriptions and monumenting of subdivided land.

(i)

To protect and preserve natural resources such as, among other things, productive agricultural lands, wetlands and shorelands and to encourage the wise use and management of these areas.

(j)

To prevent the pollution of air, groundwater, streams and ponds; and to assure the adequacy of the site for the proposed use(s) including soil suitability for on-site waste disposal.

(3)

Definitions. For the purpose of these regulations, the following terms are defined:

(a)

Arterial road. See "principal arterial road and minor arterial road."

(b)

Collector road means a road intended to collect and move traffic from local roads to arterial roads. As used here, the term "collector" includes roads so designated on the Portage County Urban Functional Classification Map, as well as roads designated as major and minor collectors on the Portage County Rural Functional Classification Map.

(c)

Copy means a true and accurate facsimile of all pages of an original document. Such a copy shall be on durable white paper with legible dark lines and lettering.

(d)

County plat means division of a lot, parcel or tract of land by the subdivider, where the act of division or successive division creates five or more lots or outlots of 20 acres each or less in area (exclusive of right-of-way) within a period of five years or less. An outlot(s) created for the expressed purpose of providing access for the joint use and ownership of abutting landowners shall not be included in the determination of a county plat.

(e)

Cul-de-sac means a local road or street with only one outlet and having a single terminal for the safe and convenient reversal of traffic movement.

(f)

Designated agent means for the purposes of this section, this term shall refer to the Portage County Planning and Zoning Department, unless another agency or individual is specifically identified.

(g)

Driving surface means the actual paved or finished road surface intended for vehicular travel, not including the shoulders.

(h)

Dwelling unit means one or more rooms intended for occupancy as separate living quarters, with separate and exclusive living, cooking, sleeping, and bath facilities.

(i)

Easement means a right-of-way granted, but not dedicated, for limited use of private land.

(j)

Final plat means the final map of all or a portion of a subdivision, subsequent to a preliminary plat, as required by this section.

(k)

Flood boundary (100-year) means boundary of the flood fringe as defined in Wis. Admin. Code ch. NR116.

(l)

Floodway means an area required to carry the discharge of the regional flood, as defined in Wis. Admin. Code ch. NR116.

(m)

Functional classification means identification of highways and streets according to the character of service they are intended to provide, ranging from a high degree of travel mobility to land access functions. The official Portage County Functional classification maps for urban and rural areas are created and periodically updated by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, and approved by the Portage County Highway Committee.

(n)

Grade means the slope of a road, street or other public way, specified in percentage terms.

(o)

Local road means a road intended to provide access to other roads from individual properties, over short distances. Local roads include all roads not designated as collectors or arterials on the Portage County Urban and Rural Functional Classification Maps.

(p)

Lot means a designated parcel or tract of land which is established as permitted by this section and which is under one ownership and confined to two contiguous quarter-quarter sections or government lots.

(q)

Lot area means lot area shall be determined exclusive of road right-of-way and exclusive of any portion of the land that is below the ordinary high water mark, except where otherwise provided in this section or the Portage County Zoning Ordinance.

(r)

Major collector road. See "collector road."

(s)

Major subdivision means division of a lot, parcel, or tract of land by the subdivider, where the act of division or successive division creates five or more lots or outlots of one and one-half acres each or less in area within a period of five years or less.

(t)

Minor arterial road means a road which collects and distributes traffic in a manner similar to principal arterials, except that it serves secondary traffic generating areas. Minor arterials connect principal arterials to collector roads. Minor arterials are designated on the Portage County Urban and Rural Functional Classification Maps.

(u)

Minor collector road means see "collector road."

(v)

Minor subdivision means division of a lot, parcel or tract of land by the subdivider, where the act of division creates one or more lots or outlots of 20 acres each or less in area (exclusive or right-of-way). An outlot(s) created for the expressed purpose of providing access for the joint use and ownership of abutting landowners shall not be included in the determination of a minor subdivision.

(w)

Navigable waters means any body of water which is navigable under the laws of this State and as determined by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

(x)

Outlot means a tract of land, other than a lot or block, designated as an outlot on a plat or certified survey map.

(y)

Parcel. See "lot."

(z)

Planning and Zoning Committee. The Portage County Planning and Zoning Committee authorized by Wis. Stats. § 59.97(2).

(aa)

Planning and Zoning Department. The Portage County Wisconsin Planning and Zoning Department.

(ab)

Plat means a map of a subdivision.

(ac)

Preliminary consultation means an initial meeting between a subdivider and the Planning and Zoning Department, during which the subdivider must present a sketch plat and is apprised of any deficiencies in the proposed subdivision, and prerequisite to the submission of a preliminary plat, in the case of a major subdivision, or the final document, in the case of a county plat or minor subdivision.

(ad)

Preliminary plat means a drawing indicating the proposed layout of a subdivision, as described in these regulations, that is submitted to the Planning and Zoning Committee for approval.

(ae)

Principal arterial road means a road which serves traffic movements of an interstate or interregional nature and stressing traffic mobility rather than access. Principal arterials serve the highest order function in the road classification hierarchy. Principal arterials are designated on the Portage County Urban and Rural Functional Classification Maps.

(af)

Replat means the changing of boundaries of a recorded subdivision plat or part thereof. The dividing of a lot or outlot, without changing the exterior boundaries of said lot or outlot, is not a replat.

(ag)

Right-of-way means a strip of land occupied or intended to be occupied by a road, railroad, utility line, or for other special purposes, and normally requiring public dedication where public maintenance is involved.

(ah)

Roadtop means the driving surface and shoulders of a road.

(ai)

Sketch plat means rough layout of a proposed land development, of sufficient detail, clarity and accuracy to be used for discussion purposes during the preliminary consultation stage of a major subdivision, county plat and minor subdivision.

(aj)

State means the State of Wisconsin.

(ak)

Subdivider means a landowner, their agent or successive owner or their agent who causes any portion of land to be divided into a subdivision.

(al)

Subdivision means the division of land into two or more lots, parcels or tracts by the subdivider.

(am)

Wetlands means means those areas where water is at, near, or above the land surface long enough to be capable of supporting aquatic or hydrophytic vegetation and which have soils indicative of wet conditions. Portage County wetlands are mapped based on both the DNR Wetland Inventory Maps and hydric soils defined in the Soil Survey of Portage County, Wisconsin.

(an)

Zoning Administrator. The Zoning Administrator for Portage County, Wisconsin.